Abstract: An apparatus and system for the dehydrogenation of ethane to produce ethylene and hydrogen through the use of a catalytic ceramic membrane having selective permeability, thus permitting separation of hydrogen from the reaction zone which causes further dehydrogenation of ethane, the catalytic ceramic membrane being in a cylindrical form which has been treated to have a metallic catalyst of suitable metal, such as platinum, palladium or chromium, deposited on the surface adjacent to the reaction zone. The catalytic ceramic membrane tube is enclosed within an alloy tube of suitable composition to permit heating to the temperature range of 300.degree. to 650.degree. C. The annulus surrounding the ceramic membrane tube may be filled with a pelleted catalyst, thus causing the dehydrogenation reaction to take place within this annular zone, but which will be accelerated by the permeation of hydrogen out of the zone through the ceramic catalytic membrane.

Abstract: A method for isomerizing isobutene or n-butene to produce a mixture of isobutene and normal butene, and polymerizing at least a portion thereof to produce isobutene/n-butene codimer, which comprieses feeding at least 80 weight % of either the isobutene or n-butene to a catalytic distillation reactor containing a fixed bed acidic cation exchange resin catalyst packing which provides both the catalyst sites and distillation sites for the reaction products, isomerizing a portion of the isobutene or n-butene to produce a mixture of isobutene and n-butene and reacting at least a portion of the isobutene and n-butene to form codimer of isobutene and n-butene, whereby an overhead fraction containing any unreacted isobutene and n-butene and a bottoms fraction containing codimer is produced. The result of the reaction is substantially the same regardless whether the feed is isobutene or n-butene. Other aspects of the invention, include combinations of procedures to produce high purity isobutene and n-butene.

Abstract: A method for conducting chemical reactions and fractionation of the reaction mixture comprising feeding reactants to a distillation column reactor into a feed zone and concurrently contracting the reactants with a fixed bed catalytic packing to concurrently carry out the reaction and fractionate the reaction mixture.For example, a method for preparing methyl tertiary butyl ether in high purity from a mixed feed stream of isobutene and normal butene comprising feeding the mixed feed stream to a distillation column reactor into a feed zone at the lower end of a distillation reaction zone, and methanol into the upper end of said distillation reaction zone, which is packed with a properly supported cationic ion exchange resin, contacting the C.sub.4 feed and methanol with the catalytic distillation packing to react methanol and isobutene, and concurrently fractionating the ether from the column below the catalytic zone and removing normal butene overhead above the catalytic zone.